1. Sam Bradford seems to have gotten over his sophomore slump and is playing better in his third season. What’s been the difference for Bradford in Year 3?

Balzer: The “sophomore slump” was the creation of a new offensive coordinator, the lockout, a brutal schedule to start the season and then the nasty high ankle sprain Bradford sustained in the sixth game of the season. This year, he has been healthy, and while there was another new offense to learn, he and the rest of the offensive personnel had the offseason to learn it. There have still been inconsistencies, but Bradford has been improved in the red zone and in the fourth quarter. The emergence of rookie wide receiver Chris Givens as a deep threat has helped create other opportunities.

2. Jeff Fisher has St. Louis on the brink of finishing above the .500 mark for the first time since 2003. How has he changed the culture for the Rams?

Balzer: Fisher knows what buttons to push and when to push them. He had instant credibility in the locker room and, most important, brought an experienced coaching staff with him. He hasn’t hesitated to play rookies and other young players, and has simply added an air of confidence. Even when he took over, he refused to talk about the past, only saying the goal was to continuously improve and work to win each week.

3. The Rams have a talented rookie class this season, with players like Janoris Jenkins, Michael Brockers and Greg Zuerlein making an impact. How has Fisher infused the roster with new talent?

Balzer: The overall quality of the rookies has been outstanding. Perhaps the most important aspect is Fisher’s understanding that rookies will make mistakes, but he keeps them on the field to get better. Of course, he also didn’t hesitate to bench Jenkins and Givens when they missed curfew before the road game in San Francisco, and since then, Jenkins has scored all four of his defensive touchdowns. Going back to the draft, he expressed no concerns about entering the season with rookie kickers, which they did with Zuerlein and punter Johnny Hekker. In addition to the draft, the Rams did an impressive job with undrafted free agents.

4. Steven Jackson is 10 yards away from reaching the 1,000-yard mark for the eighth straight year. He also reached 10,000 yards this season, and at 29-years old has hinted at retirement. What is Jackson’s future in St. Louis?

Balzer: The “retirement” talk was merely Jackson joking during a media session Thursday. He has a list of the top 10 all-time rushers in his locker, and his goal is to enter that group. To do that will take two more 1,000-yard seasons. He truly wants it to happen with the Rams so he can finish his career with the team that drafted him. He can void the final year of his contract on Feb.8, but the feeling is a new deal will occur before that date. Jackson was voted a team captain and he has been a mentor to rookies Daryl Richardson and Isaiah Pead. Fisher appreciates what he means to the team, on and off the field.

5. What are the most significant holes the Rams need to address in the draft next year to compete with San Francisco and Seattle for an NFC West crown?

Balzer: Offensively, more production has to come from the receiving corps, whether it’s from a veteran addition or the improvement of the players currently on the roster, especially second-round pick Brian Quick. The offensive line has battled, but an upgrade at right tackle would be welcome, although Barry Richardson played better than most people expected.

On defense, the real issue is at safety. Quintin Mikell had a solid season, but will be entering his 11th season in 2013. Craig Dahl is a solid backup, but a better starter is needed.

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Gregg Bell joined The News Tribune in July 2014. Bell had been the director of writing for the University of Washington's athletic department for four years. He was the senior national sports writer in Seattle for The Associated Press from 2005-10, covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season and beyond. He's also been The Sacramento Bee's beat writer on the Oakland Athletics and Raiders. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.

I thought this was a pretty lame preview, but it was worth posting because of the comments. I thought the Seahawk fans comments were classy and several Ram fans point that out.
One thing we and the Ram fans have in common is our dislike for 49er fans.

Nice, Georgia. I giggled at the “don’t cash that check yet” stuff. It also really does appear that a few of the Rams fans wouldn’t mind us winning as long as the 40’ba$tards lose…and after the curb stomp we laid on ‘em, I can’t imagine they have that false sense of royalty and entitlement anymore.

P.S. – Too clear up any suspicions of me having a dual personality, my wife is registering. Of course, she has chosen the name CindyandMatt. No worries, though. Hardcore fan. Seahawks underwear. It’s aaaallllll good.

Right now the Seahawks are the new bullies on the block and the old bullies are in full retreat mode. Maybe in a couple of years we’ll be whining about how the Rams mistreat us and none of it will be funny, but right now I’m loving the 49’er fan reaction to all of this.

I’m re-posting this for anyone that missed it the first time. A very funny 2 1/2 minutes:

One note of caution; the Niners have some injury issues, especially Justin SMith. With him in the game, things might have been different. And as much as I loathe his guts, Harbaugh is a great coach with a great team; he wont be caught off guard by Seattle again.

THat Niner beat down was EPIC, but its likely to be a major aberration in the series. They will remain a tough team for years to come–and hopefully so will Seattle.

My friend Jason thought up the It aint easy bein Sweezy gag for t-shirts the first week of the season…he is desperate to get a Sweezy jersey, but has his first kid so money’s tight…Looks like we shoulda printed those T-shirts, huh?!

And the Rams are pretty good. They will soon have a secondary as good as ours, if things continue…both Trumaine Johnson and Jenkins have ridiculous talent. And they’ve got other guys on the upswing too. Fishers a good tough coach, and they have some real studs on defense.

I have always liked Bradford, I think hes much better than many Hawk fans want to admit. Next year we will begin to see it.

And they are finding some good young WR’s too. Gibson is pretty good, and Givens ripped us a couple times.

The Lambs need some new safeties, but they have a ton of talent at CB. There also have a spit load of picks the next few years. They probably will be a force to be dealt with. Never know though, the Tards looked imposing at the beginning of the year.

Can you imagine the pain, anguish, and suffering in Northern California if the Whiners blew an early lead and lost to Arizona in OT, while Minnesota and Seattle were winning big time?

That’s my dream. I don’t really care if Seattle wins the division or has a week off exactly, I just want the 49’ers to loose. The longer, more drawn out and painful the loss is, the better I’d like it.

I would be happy enough with a #5 seed in the playoffs except it would mean SF wins the division and has a higher seed. Unacceptable unless Seattle eventually goes to Candlestick and beats the crap out of the 49’ers in front of their home crowd. That would work for me.

Good link, GeorgiaHawk. I don’t think even that point chart can capture how hot this team is … especially after the Sherman ruling.

On Wednesday, I asked the two most veteran Seahawks to compare the 2012 Hawks at this point to the roll the 2005 team was on. Both Leroy Hill and Marcus Trufant said this team is not only similar in confidence and momentum, but has a brighter future because of the youth. Leroy made some strong statements that might interest you in my column tomorrow morning in the Trib.

I agree Duke. There is just a feeling i have with this team that they can get things done on the road now. If the offense continues to click and the defense keep being bullies, i think they can win anywhere against anyone.

For those of us who have been taunted for years by 49’r fans, i don’t hate them but i don’t wish them well either. They have mucho talent but the arrogance and a dick coach doesn’t help their cause either.
Many teams all over the country have fans who despise the whiners.
On a seperate note i’ll be glad to clinch the division but would also like to keep the momentum going, we’ll be on the road but having Sherman and Browner should help. This team has a history of letdowns after a bye.

Last week i pushed for the idea of Wilson for ROY, it probably won’t happen especially since the media is still infatuated with RG3 in a knee brace over the guy who scored 150 points in 3 games or will surpass PM’s rookie TD record. I’m ok if he doesn’t win now that the media has taken notice of him, i just want the same call for him if he gets clocked in the head as Brady or Rogers gets. Scrubs don’t get calls in their favor whereas franchise qb’s do.

Wilson hasn’t exactly walked onto the football field all by himself and single handedly scored 150 points in 3 weeks. The D/ST has scored 4 TDs and there have been 10 other players on the field with him on offense. Even some Pro Bowlers like Okung and Lynch. I heard they are pretty good. It’s a team game and Wilson is a big part of it. Of the rookie QBs I think it obvious he’s playing on the best team, which helps. Would we trade rosters, minus QB, with Washington? No. At the same time, this TEAM wouldn’t have scored as many as 150 points in 3 weeks if it didn’t have Wilson either. He’s been impressive. The team has, just like the end of the year version of some of Mr. Happy’s USC teams that was playing the best at the end of the season but wasn’t able to play for the BCS Championship a few of those years.

“Scrubs don’t get calls in their favor whereas franchise qb’s do.”
So true!

We have another character building opportunity today. The old Seahawks might not be up enough to handle a solid division opponent who really wants to finish with a winning season. I think we will rise to the occasion.

Taunted for years? Take a look at the last 10 years…..Niners have only 2 winning seasons (last year and this year) keeping the cellar warm. Seahawks have won how many division titles in the last 10 years? Didn’t they go to the Superbowl? The Hawks have been superior to the Niners for years until last year.

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